Taiwan ranks No. 8 on IMD World Digital Competitive list, up 3 places
Taiwan improved three places from last year to take eighth place among the 64 economies on the 2021 IMD World Digital Competitive rankings, after improving in all of the three indicators: Knowledge, Technology and Future Readiness.
In the 2021 IMD World Digital Competitive report released Wednesday (Swiss time), Taiwan recorded its best performance in the rankings since the annual report made its debut in 2017, marking the first time the country has appeared in the top 10.
Meanwhile, Taiwan ranked No. 2 among the 29 economies with a population of more than 20 million in 2021, up 1 place from 2020, while the country took eighth spot among the 33 economies with GDP per capita in excess of US$20,000, up three notches.
In terms of the Knowledge indicator, which measures a country's know-how and ability to develop new technologies, Taiwan saw its ranking rising two spots from a year earlier to 16th place this year.
Within that category, Taiwan took first place in the "total R&D personnel per capita" sub-index, and third place in both sub-indexes on "higher education achievement" and "total expenditure on R&D (%)."
In response, Taiwan's National Development Council (NDC), the top economic planning agency in the country, said the improved ranking in Knowledge reflects Taiwan's keenness to recruit foreign professional by streamlining the work permit application process.
In the Technology category, which largely measures a country's ability to develop digital innovative technologies, Taiwan rose three notches from 2020 to second spot in 2021, after taking first place in both sub-indexes for "IT & media stock market capitalization" and "mobile broadband subscribers".
Under the same category, Taiwan improved in several sub-indexes, including "development & application of tech," "scientific research legislation," "country credit rating," "banking and financial services" and "funding for technological development."
The NDC said the improved ranking in the Technology category reflects the fact that government efforts to push for an upgrade in information communications technologies and development of tech start-ups have paid off.
According to the IMD report, Taiwan ranked No. 7 in the Future Readiness category, which mainly measures degree of digital transformation, in 2021, an improvement of one place on 2020.
In the category, Taiwan took third place in "agility of companies" and "smartphone possession," fourth in "use of big data and analytics" and "attitudes toward globalization" and fifth in "entrepreneurial fear of failure."
The NDC said it will use the IMD report as a reference for the government to enhance its digital capability.
In the latest IMD Digital Competitive Ranking report, the United States remained in first spot, followed by Hong Kong, Sweden, Denmark, Singapore, Switzerland, the Netherlands, Taiwan, Norway and the United Arab Emirates.
South Korea took 12th place ahead of China (No. 15) and Japan (No.28).